Weary of the waltz and mashed POLLtato schmaltz: The Roxy Music & Bryan Ferry Ballot Poll Thread

http://ris.fashion.telegraph.co.uk/RichImageService.svc/imagecontent/1/TMG8617986/m/ferryrex655_1938721a.jpg

It's never a bad time to revisit and obsess over this extraordinary body of work, so I'm gonna ask you to dig deep and come up with your TOP 20 ROXY MUSIC & BRYAN FERRY TRACKS. Anything released under either name is fair game, including the covers. Unnerstan' that Ferry re-interpreted some RM tunes (Casanova, Chance Meeting etc.) and that they sound a whole lot different, so if you want to vote for these versions, please specify or I'll assume you're voting Roxy. Scoring won't deviate from the usual fare: 1:40, 2:36, 3:33, 4:30, 5:28, 6:26 dropping 1 point per spot from here down to 12 for number 20.

Also for side poll purposes, please tell me your TOP 3 ROXY MUSIC & BRYAN FERRY ALBUM COVERS. Optional, but should be a lark.

Please email your ballots to me at roxymusicpoll at gmail dot com

Let me know anything I might be missing?

oh yeah, get yer ballots in by MONDAY, 17 FEBRUARY. that gives you two weeks, which is about par for the course, i think.

SO FUCKING STOKED

Me too (even though my ballot's gonna be all from the first 5 Roxy records).

The greatest living Englishman.

My #1-2 are almost certainly fixed but there are a couple of Roxy albums I have to spend more time with and I've never dug into solo Ferry. Stoked!

i'm gonna throw some early weight behind Dance Away from Manifesto. a beautifully-poised song on an album that sometimes gets a bit hung up on smeary, heavy-handed tactics.

I love Roxy Music, they are one of my favourite bands ever but for some reason I've just never bothered with much of his solo work. I have The Bride Stripped Bare which is decent but no way near the quality of the best Roxy albums. Is there a key album of his I should try? I should point out when it comes to Roxy Music I like most of their albums (Flesh & Blood is the only dud for me) but it's really the first three albums which are all 10/10 classics and are up there with my favourite albums ever made.

have a listen to Boys and Girls; it's a natural extension of Avalon, at least in terms of atmosphere, polish, and attention to detail.

Yeah, "Boys And Girls" and "Bete Noire" are his two best virtually dud-free albums. All the rest are a decidedly mixed bag.

http://www.albumartexchange.us/assets_c/2009/11/bferry-thesef_02-thumb-400x400-2579.jpg

because http://youtu.be/7zwBHd4kll0

#1 = Same Old Scene, then a bunch of other stuff I'll sort out.

For your consideration (& Pleasure), "Still Falls The Rain": http://youtu.be/YfKWftrGZmU

This single artist poll seems more manageable than many. I have pretty clear ideas about my favorite RM/BF, and it's not like Neil Young, where there's this sprawling body of significant bootlegs that I probably should hear before voting.

I love Roxy Music, they are one of my favourite bands ever but for some reason I've just never bothered with much of his solo work.

this is me exactly. i've loved roxy for over twenty years but have zero interest in ferry solo. i've listened to (i think) three of his records and they made little impression.

I strongly recommend at least checking out the following solo Bryan Ferry albums if you haven't already:

Let's Stick Together
The Bride Stripped Bare
Boys and Girls

xp however, "another time, another place" is my favorite album cover of anybody ever.

http://musicglue-wordpress-bryan-ferry.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Bryan-Ferry-Another-Time-Another-Place.jpg

Tempted to vote for a bunch of
http://images.junostatic.com/full/CS474056-01A-BIG.jpg
tbh

This solo BF version of 2HB is amazing, like a lot of the RM covers on LST. (I decided to be consistent there.)

When She Walks in the Room is really good though I do find it too depressing to listen to most of the time.

^^ yes. that's a wonderful song.

love

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/dc/5b/3a/dc5b3a4c32fdf6f0c3b506827373abd0.jpg

which reminds me possibly my favorite song from Siren doesn't get as much praise as I would expect. A real triumph of Bryan Ferry vocal swoopery.

i doubt any solo ferry will make my ballot (3rd fave roxy music solo career really) but there's some good stuff there, would definitely recommend checking it out, esp if you like later roxy music.

I'd guess Eno is one, but...Manzanera?

Great pic! The Prairie Rose herself. By the way, every ballot should have Prairie Rose on it.

just to elaborate a bit on Siren: to my mind it's the first time a uniform persona emerges from song to song that represents the stylised construct of Ferry himself. but it's only a half-way departure: there are still clear signs of the ambitious, deep-thinking theatre that came before.
many, many soaring standouts on this album. the aforementioned Whirlwind is definitely one, as is the wistful yet hope-filled Could it Happen to Me?

i haven't yet thought about how much solo Ferry will factor into my ballot. probably some.

Hi!

Hi.

listening to Country Life just now. i'd say about half these songs are contenders, Prairie Rose included.

A bit of self-promotion. sw00ds and I created a 14-hour podcast of Roxy and solo Ferry: http://rockcriticsarchives.com/audiovisual/index-roxy.html

My take on eighties Ferry and his influence

I'd say 95% of the first five Roxy albums are contenders, then a few to several songs from each subsequent Roxy and Ferry solo album.

I've never checked out any Ferry solo albums either so will give some a go before I vote.

The other problem I have is that I there are a couple of Roxy albums where for some reason I have trouble matching the titles to the songs (Country Life and Siren).

Whhhops, "is that I there are"

Hmm, really struggling to type today.

The guy means the world to me; he taught me to love Motown, music hall, great hair. These Foolish Things ranks with any of the great albums. We know it has the best Dylan cover ever, but his version of "Don't Worry Baby," given a quasi-Brian Wilson production, is gorgeous. After this it's diminishing returns until The Bride Stripped Bare, in which Ferry thinks he's discovered the secret of punk but hires Waddy Wachtel's L.A. studio cats and records in Switzerland. It's impossible for me to choose between Boys + Girls and Bete Noire; the former is better melodically, the latter denser (I prefer "Kiss and Tell" to "Slave to Love"). If you think his voice has drifted into the stratosphere, Taxi and Mamouna find him awake and struggling to penetrate the fog. As Time Goes By has shattering moments. Frantic is the real comeback.

yeah, i really dug Frantic at its time of release. need to remind myself how the songs go, it's been a while.

the only ones that didn't click at all for me were In Your Mind and the more recent Dylan covers album, which was a little too much.

well, look at IYM's cover art! The worst of his career, Dylanesque excepted.

I love IYM's cover. "Love Me Madly Again" will surely make my ballot (http://youtu.be/OcV9XN-XaVY)

The thought of choosing Roxy and Ferry album covers has me nervous yet excited. Perhaps the ultimate poll-based dilemma of our time.

special props for being the only person to survive Live Aid's hair disaster

http://www.assetstorage.co.uk/AssetStorageService.svc/GetImageFriendly/721235898/700/700/0/0/1/80/ResizeBestFit/0/PressAssociation/66075F15382B0278878C2587307E0E3B/live-aid-concert-wembley-stadium.jpg

Which Ferry albums did Paul Thompson play on? That'd be a huge reason for me to dig into his solo stuff.

He's on pretty much all the early ones, I think, as is much of Roxy.

http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/0n3OepDn5GU/hqdefault.jpg

Iirc, the eye patch was a legit injury, but he rocked it.

Yeah, Thompson on most of the '70s ones, back for Frantic.

His last album was Manifesto; he was fired from the F+B tour.

Last Roxy album. But he came back for Frantic. And in fact was playing with Ferry when I saw him a year or two ago, though I wish I caught one of the shows with Andy Newmark on drums.

But wow, Thompson is such a great drummer.

post Manifesto RM is a weird one - got to the point where the other two became tired of session musicians being elevated way beyond what was deemed their status as part of the collective

Manifesto is the only post-Viva! (which is amazing) Roxy record I've heard, and I hated it. Couldn't explain why, other than unrealistic expectations. Never dug into anything after that, since Thompson wasn't around. But thanks for the info, will definitely start on solo Ferry (though not in time for the poll).

And yeah, Thompson is so fucking incredible. I can accept a non-Eno Roxy far more readily than a non-Thompson Roxy.

The only bad Roxy album is F+B, and it can still boast "Same Old Scene" and "Oh Yeah." Ferry hadn't figured out what he wanted to sound like after the thrill was gone, therefore the studio musicians and Manzanera-McKay sit uneasily on tracks.

Manifesto's album tracks needs more love. It's like a L.A. band impressed by the sound of disco but smart enough not to commit.

When does the rollout begin?

Drafting my ballot: I tried but I could not find a way..
(I'll try again tonight)

i'll start it on Tuesday evening, at about 6pm EST, which is like Wednesday morning for me. it's looking like a top 40 rollout plus the album covers, but that could change...

i mean, how does that sound? i could probably start earlier.

Voted.

they opened with "SF," and did a fairly elongated intro, until Ferry came on stage and mesmerized the crowd

I saw this, and yes it was hypnotic. If you can find the entire Stockholm 1976 video it's on there. It used to be on youtube, but now only other portions of the show are.

^^ incredible!

i think this poll will be closed for voting in about 8 hours, at which point i will have checked my inbox for any overnight ballots. cheers

all your Roxy bootleg needs right here
http://ace.bootlegs.free.fr/wordpress/?p=1121

Something about that Stockholm video really underscores just what a weird band this was.

xpost Wow, where should I start with those? I think First Kiss is the only one I have. Maybe that and BBC.

Josh, try "Why Do You Think I'm a Funky Chick?" and "Siren in the Empire Pool" are both great, as is Paris Palais de Congress '74 (the ones I've downloaded today)

no harm in keeping voting going till around midnight eastern time, i guess.

anybody still putting together a ballot?

Just sent mine! hope it's in time

yep!

Second what Josh says about the Stockholm video.

There's always been something subtly inscrutable about this band.

Right? Like when they suddenly bust into "Wild Weekend" by the Rockin' Rebels?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVf144-Ccj4

wow, can't wait to devour some of those bootlegs!

just sorting out my album covers. BF looking very Fonz on the cover of These Foolish Things

BF solo album covers some of the shittiest things. There like if Morrissey's "Maladjusted" was the norm, not the exception. I mean, come on:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e9/Bryan_Ferry_Dylanesque.jpg/220px-Bryan_Ferry_Dylanesque.jpg

Won't put the image in, because it's NSFW, but I think this "Country Life" cover behind the scenes is sort of fascinating:

http://ace.bootlegs.free.fr/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/images/boots/roxy%20music/1974-11-27%20-%20Paris%20%2774%20-%20front.jpg

And then there's this:

http://ace.bootlegs.free.fr/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/images/boots/roxy%20music/The%20thrill%20of%20it%20all%20%28live%201975%29%20-%20front1.jpg

In Your Mind and Dylanesque neck and neck for worst Ferry covers ever.

yeah, the Dylanesque cover is horrid and quite odd as well.

ONE HOUR LEFT TO VOTE if you need to

ok, that's it for voting! thanks everyone.

what time of day do most people check into ilm? i'll do my best to sync the rollout to that.

I forgot to vote for album covers but I hope Manifesto does well. It looks ahead of its time in a way that then more famous ones don't.

yeah, the Manifesto cover is amazing once you pay attention to it. so much going on that i don't know where to look.

That cover would have earned my vote for the BLAST typeface alone.

Anyone heard Mackay's "In Search of Eddie Riff?" It's kind of like a Roxy novelty record, a busman's holiday sort of thing in which Ferry takes the day off and the other guys get together to record an eclectic batch of instrumental rock and roll. This one is credited to him and Eno, which is why is sort of sounds like Mackaytronics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDn5Tb1X2kg

And this one was the first single!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wTpfQoF1-s

POLLing and turning, how can I sleep?: The Roxy Music & Bryan Ferry Results Thread

btw now that this thread is done i can post this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpfsMVagDHM

i don't know how and i don't know when but i swear everyone responsible will pay

Holy shit! at the Andy MacKay solo stuff. Thank you for posting that.

yeah, that Andy Mackay material is a revelation.

I went long on this list.

Nice work. Stranded is my favorite as well.

Yes albums could ship gold in 1972 with songs like “The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)” but Roxy couldn’t chart in America with a song dependent on Casablanca for pathos and a deranged offer from a British art fag imitating Count Chocula to grow potatoes by the score.

Yeah, but only one of these records was issued in a doobie-rolling-friendly gatefold cover.

Great list. Stranded is one of my favorite pieces of music by anyone, ever. At one point I was listening to it twice a day for a solid month. I only stopped because I was worried I'd get sick of it, so I reduced my listening to once every other day. Still didn't get sick of it.

And otm re: "Triptych" and "Bitter-Sweet." Always found those a bit of a slog, especially annoying on a record that is otherwise the polar opposite of a slog.

Triptych a slog? That's crazy talk.

They said go west young man, that's best
It's there you'll feel no pain
Bel-Air's okay if you dig the grave
But I want to live again

maybe "for your pleasure" is formaldehyde, but i sure as hell get high off it

Triptych some wicker man level beauty

Korn otm

Stranded is the best

And here's the follow-up: the Ferry albums you should own.

guess I should've mentioned As Time Goes By

I've never read any good in depth interviews with Ferry, I don't think (I watched him interviewed a couple of years ago here, but the interviewer didn't ask any particularly good questions ... or get any particularly illuminating answers). I've always wondered what was behind the transition from the chaos and energy of Roxy's first five records to the smooth apotheosis of Avalon, which of course has been the basis for all/most subsequent slick Ferry.

I'm a fan of Mamouna, which like you (I think we're pretty much the same age) was along with Taxi my first realtime introduction to Ferry. I think it's a really dreamy album.

Ferry, I think I said upthread or another thread, is the least interesting major rock and roller in history. He's a bore. When he enters a studio or steps onstage, Henry Jekyll turns into Edward Hyde.

...only one of these records was issued in a doobie-rolling-friendly gatefold cover.

Wait, what? I certainly had some, erm, experiences with this one:

http://assets.rootsvinylguide.com/pictures/roxy-music-roxy-music-debut-1972-uk-ilps-9200-island-records-gatefold-vinyl_624253

Ah! I was not aware any Roxy records had gotten the gatefold treatment!

Oh man, then you haven't seen For Your Pleasure? Amazing! (Stranded has one as well.)

https://jonmwessel.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/roxy-music-for-your-pleasure-gatefold.jpg

Brain Fury, as the NME (probably) dubbed him, is certainly unorthodox for a "major rock and roller" and although one might consider him boring onstage or in interview, I don't think the accusation stands once he's over the studio threshold. Certainly not on the classic early run of platters (as the NME probably referred to them)

That's what I said: When he enters a studio or steps onstage, Henry Jekyll turns into Edward Hyde.

Are you custom or are you readymade?